My first cycle tour - France

[lozcs]

If my Wife could drive I might have been tempted to ask to tag along all the way to La Rochelle area.

You are more than welcome - although you may get fed up of a moaning unprepared unfit brummie after half a day....

 

[lozcs]

Oh and how are you getting the Bike back? Can you just load a fully assembled bike on to a plane?

Flying Ryanair from Montpellier to Birmingham - seems that will need cycle bag, deflate tyres and turn handlebars....

 

[lozcs]

I thought Montaigu de Quercy rang a bell. I cycled right through there on my Spain / UK tour last year and up to St Malo. I kept slightly inland and went north via Bergerac,skirted Saintes to the East, Niort to the west,Cholet to the East up to Rennes.

Its quite lumpy and the roads were surprisingly busy (D roads) .Total ascent for that part of the trip was approx 14000 feet so as I said quite hilly so you may want to hug the coast?

I think your 120km days are quite realistic. I got from Moissac to St Malo in 6 days.

thanks

 

[lozcs]

The St Nazaire bridge is of cousre a category cllimb - and it was a fantastic thing to cycle over but if I could have avoided it at the time I would have. One van (I swear it was a british driver) passed so close and fast it set the rather rear half of the bike to wobbling furiously. I did need a sit down and a glass of wine on the other side ..

We did Roscoff to Bilbao - lovely trip; mostly stayed in hotels as we found them pretty cheap but some camping too (camping atCarnac to see the stones was fun). Very jealous

Love to know your route and the bits you recommend - Carnac stones look amazing - although depends on taking coastal route.

 

[lozcs]

I would be lying if I said it hadn't crossed my mind the mega miles for that month

Made the mistake of the trip straddling over two months didn't I!!!

Anyway - would probably still get nowhere near trio25..

 

[400bhp]

I know! current max one day miles is 100k

Planning on going VERY light - going to collect what I want to take and then see what bags are suitable.

If you are travelling light would it not be better to ditch the tent idea and stay in hotels? Even cheaper now it looks like thereare 2 of you.

Based on a 2 night stay over from an Edinburgh to Manc cycle trip where I travelled VERY light:

1. Get yourself one of these Dueter front triangle bags-very handy. The only other bag I had was a Topeak Large aero wedge pack. Everything was stuffed into these and back pockets of cycling jersey.

2. Clothing when not on bike:
a). Buy a pair of light swim shorts. I had a pair of Umbro ones with a mesh lining. Something like the Speedo ones from Sports Direct look ok. They are thin and so can be rolled up very small and you don't need spare duds.
b) t-shirts/socks. Use cycling ones then you can wear them on the bike the day after you have worn them at the hotel. Clean your days cycle kit in the shower. You could get away with one pair of shorts (which i did over 3 days) but might be tricky over a longer period.

3. Buy large water bottles and have 2 on the bike. Have a think about what food you need. Can you buy it throughout the day/for the next day (bananas from supermarkets etc)?

4. Assuming 2 of you, share the toiletries/tools between you.

5. Check out where the local cycle shops are. Can you do the route that will pass near them in case of any spares/replacement parts? Plenty of Decathlons dotted around.

6. Remember, not much open on a Sunday.

 

[Andrew_P]

Must admit if I were planning something like this I would plan to travel light and wash my kit on the move. Doubt at 120k a day if you will be doing much in the evenings other than eating!

Again as someone else suggested just for number of options I would plan to track along the coast, lots of cheap places to stay and food options galore. Plus as mentioned not so much climbing!

What would put me off would be carrying loads of gear, I reckon I could get away with a back pack!

 

[lozcs]

made it!

 

[fatblokish]

made it!

More information please !